Sunday, June 29, 2008

..I get letters from people who want to learn how to market their direct sales and MLM products.

This nice young man wrote me today. My response follows:

Paul writes:

Hi Greg,

Thanks for the mail and the tips. I do have a couple of questions for you if you have as second. Promoting a great product is where I need help, as I'm not looking for products. I've got one that I like tremendously. I'm just trying to figure out how to meet with new people and share ideas. What is promote it and how does it help you? I'm not that familiar with ryze as I just found this site. Let me know your thoughts.

Thanks,Paul

Greg's response:

Is the product Mona Vie? I am asking because then you have a REAL product as opposed to some internet marketing swindle. Liking a product is a good thing. Selling it is a another matter.

Second question: Can you sell the PRODUCT without recruiting? I ask this because so many direct sales companies reward you for recruiting. That tells me that it may be difficult to sell the product.

AVON is an example, in my opinion, of a company that cares whether its reps can make a living OFFLINE. I am sorry to say that trying to sell a lot of products ONLINE can be a very difficult task.

He asked me what I would do if I were him to promote his business. In a few minutes I decided that Google Adwords would be a good choice. Two years later he is selling about $10,000 a month in product. His net, after paying Google, is about 25%. One thing he had going for him is that many Europeans in the US already knew his major brands.

So, to try to give you advice I need some info:

1. How long have you been selling your product?2. Do you have previous experience in marketing a business?3. Are you willing to invest significant money into advertising or other means of getting people to buy your product? (my nephew spends about $3,000 a month with Google)4. How much experience do you have with Internet sales?5. If you depend on recruiting to make your money, do you realize that you need to present it to 100 people (I am making up this number but it could be worse) to get (maybe) one recruit? And that it will take 10 recruits to get one good salesperson like yourself? You can make some money on the forced sales to your downline, but making a living on that is almost impossible considering the dropout rate. By the way, what is the dropout rate for your company?

I did a quick search and found that Mona Vie allows you to sell RETAIL by purchasing wholesale. That may be a good thing. Is there anyone in the company that you know who makes their living selling RETAIL almost exclusively? Get to know that person and find out what they do.

I know of one lady who makes a LOT of money selling a diet product. Her techniques are quite radical based on what most head bobbing direct sales reps do. (follow the company suggestions and DIE - the company wants you to maintain your PV, that is what I hear all the time) If you want to listed to a couple of audio interviews with the diet plan lady, let me know.

I babble on. Love to talk more but I'm not sure this is what you want to hear because direct sales companies consider me a crazy guy. Can you tell I'm not a fan of MLM?